Pakistan's foreign minister said Tuesday that Prime Minister Imran Khan's talks with Tehran and Riyadh had been "encouraging" after visits to try to defuse rising tensions in the Gulf.
Khan travelled to Iran and Saudi Arabia as a "facilitator" between the arch-rivals, following a series of attacks on oil infrastructure and tankers in recent months that have raised fears of war.
"Our talks have been encouraging and the response that we got in the two countries was beyond our expectation," Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi told a press conference in Islamabad after Khan's visit to Riyadh.
"Iranian leadership told us they don't want escalation and wish to resolve the issue peacefully," he said.
Iran's leaders "said they are also mentally prepared for a dialogue, either direct or with third-party facilitation", Qureshi added.
Earlier this week Khan held talks with Iranian President Hassan Rouhani at the presidential palace and later met Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
It 

Pakistan says talks with Riyadh, Tehran 'encouraging'

PTI Automatic

Leaders of the United Auto Workers announced Wednesday they have reached a tentative deal with General Motors to end a nationwide strike.
The UAW GM National Council, which includes union locals, will convene on Thursday to consider the agreement before it is sent to the full union membership for ratification, the UAW said in a statement.
The strike will continue until the council approves the proposed tentative agreement. Thursday's meeting will also decide whether to continue striking until all members vote, the UAW said.
Nearly 50,000 hourly workers have been on strike since September 16.
GM did not have an immediate comment.
The negotiations have focused on job security, health benefits and a quicker transition to permanent worker status for temporary workers who are paid less.
The talks have been complicated by anger at GM after it effectively shuttered five plants in North America last year in a cost-cutting move that the union has argued violated the prior agreement.
The union .

UAW leaders reach tentative deal with GM to end US worker strike

Sudan peace talks stalled before they began in Juba on Wednesday as a key rebel grouping said it refused to negotiate with Khartoum, claiming government forces were still bombarding its territory.
Juba is hosting talks between the government of new prime minister Abdalla Hamdok and representatives from two umbrella groups of rebels that fought forces of now ousted president Omar al-Bashir in Darfur, Blue Nile and South Kordofan states.
The talks were launched on Monday in the presence of heads of state from Ethiopia, Egypt, Rwanda, Uganda and South Sudan.
The first face-to-face meeting between the adversaries was to take place in the South Sudan capital on Wednesday.
But Amar Amoua, secretary general of the Sudan People's Liberation Movement North (SPLM-N), told journalists his group would not continue unless the government withdrew from the area of the fighting, in the Nuba Mountains.
"Our coming back to negotiate... is bound by government decisions to clear all these things," Amoua, 

Sudan peace talks stall as rebel group halts talks over attack

Russian authorities removed three US diplomats from a train in the Arctic shipyard city of Severodvinsk, news agencies reported Wednesday, citing an "informed source".
The diplomats were on Monday taken off a train running between Severodvinsk and Nyonoksa, the site of a missile test blast that saw a radiation spike last August, reported Interfax news agency.
The trio, including a naval attache and a defence attache, were removed from the train in Severodvinsk station at around six pm after document checks and then released, Interfax said.
TASS news agency, citing a source from the law enforcement authorities, said the diplomats were suspected of breaching rules on foreigners visiting controlled zones.
Severodvinsk does not allow foreigners to visit freely, TASS noted.
Some Russian cities, particularly those involved in military and nuclear activities, only allow foreigners to visit with special permits.
The US Embassy in Moscow did not immediately respond to a request for ...

US diplomats taken off train in Russian naval city: reports

Nigeria is looking to claim $62 billion from international oil firms for back revenues it says it is owed -- but even the country's own oil minister admits the government has little chance of success.
The eye-watering amount relates to a 1993 law governing production sharing agreements between the country and oil majors that said the revenue split should be reviewed if prices reached over USD 20 per barrel.
Despite the price of crude soaring above that point over the past two decades the division of spoils was never recalculated -- and Africa's biggest oil producer insists the time has come to pay up.
In October 2018, three oil-rich states in southern Nigeria won a court ruling obliging the central government to up its share of the revenues from the lucrative offshore fields.
When the law governing production-sharing contracts came into effect 26 years ago, foreign oil majors agreed to pay about 20 percent of revenues from deep offshore facilities to the government.
The authorities ...

With little hope, Nigeria pushes USD 62 bn claim from oil majors

French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said Wednesday he would discuss a judicial framework for putting jihadists on trial during a visit to Iraq, as calls grow for an international court to judge extremists.
"We need to work things out with the Iraqi authorities so that we can find a way to have a judicial mechanism that is able to judge all these fighters, including obviously the French fighters," he told BFM-TV.
Prime Minister Edouard Philippe later said Le Drian would head to Iraq "as soon as tonight" to work on potential means for trying detained insurgents.
"A certain number of those held in Syria by the Kurds committed crimes in Iraq, which means that they can be held accountable there," he said.
Seven European countries -- France, Britain, Belgium, Germany, the Netherlands, Sweden and Denmark -- have been discussing in recent months the creation of an international court in Iraq for putting foreign Islamic State (IS) jihadists on trial.
Officials from all seven countries ..

France, Iraq to mull framework for jihadist trials

The undying popularity of sport-utility vehicles has made them the second-biggest contributor to the growth of global CO2 emissions in recent years, just behind the power sector, the head of the International Energy Agency said Wednesday.
"In 2010, 18 per cent of all car sales in the world were SUVs. In 2018, more than 40 per cent of all cars sold in the world are SUVs!" Fatih Birol told an electric energy conference in Paris.
Demand for the heavy, fuel-guzzling vehicles is soaring in the US and Europe as well as in China, India and other developing countries, where they are particularly prized as status symbols, according to an IEA report released this week.
And despite often having four-wheel drive, SUVs are mainly used by urban drivers -- the steepest climb they face is probably out of a parking garage.
SUVs spewed some 700 million tonnes of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere from 2010 to 2018, nearly half the amount produced by the power sector, the IEA report said.
They surpassed 

Urban SUVs driving huge growth in CO2 emissions: IEA

An Italian court on Wednesday rejected a dramatic last-minute bid to halt the loan of Leonardo da Vinci's iconic Vitruvian Man drawing and other works to France's Louvre museum, ending a bitter cultural row.
The court in Venice cited "the exceptional global relevance of the (Louvre) exhibition and (Italy's) desire to maximise its heritage potential" in overturning the bid by a heritage group to stop the loan of several Da Vinci works.
The court last week suspended the loan of the world famous artwork, due to appear later this month in an exhibition at the Paris museum to mark the 500th anniversary of the artist's death.
It did so after the group Italia Nostra (Our Italy) filed a complaint saying the drawing was too fragile to travel.
The Vitruvian Man is kept in a climate-controlled vault in the Accademia Gallery in Venice and is rarely displayed to the public.
The court had put on hold an accord signed in September in Paris between Italy's culture ministry and the Louvre for a swap ..

Italy rejects bid to stop iconic Da Vinci loan to Louvre

The European Parliament expects the new EU Commission to start work with at least a month's delay after MEPs rejected three candidate-commissioners, the institution's spokesman said Wednesday.
"Parliament willing to vote on time to allow new Commission to start December 1," spokesman Jaume Duch tweeted. The new Commission had been due to take office on November 1.
Duch added a call for the "rapid appointment of the new three commissioners-designate".

New EU Commission delayed for at least a month

President Donald Trump disparaged the Kurds on Wednesday, saying the US allies in the war against Islamic State in Syria "are not angels."
Trump, who has come under intense criticism for abandoning the Kurds in the face of a Turkish offensive in northern Syria, told reporters at the White House that "The Kurds are very well protected."
"By the way, they are not angels," he added.

Trump: Kurds 'are not angels'

Teenage sensation Coco Gauff failed to follow up on her maiden WTA tournament win after crashing out in the first round 6-4, 6-0 to Anna Blinkova in Luxembourg on Wednesday.
"I'm very happy with my performance. I didn't make a lot of mistakes and I had the right tactics. I was calm and I did my job well today," said Russian eighth seed Blinkova.
"I was very focused. I know she's a great player and I knew she was coming off a WTA tournament win, so I was well prepared."
Gauff, made headlines around the world on Sunday when she conquered her first career title in Linz, Austria, aged 15 years and seven months.
She became the youngest player to win a WTA event since Czech Nicole Vaidisova, who triumphed in Vancouver and Tashkent two months apart in 2004 as a 15-year-old, and shot up 39 places in the WTA rankings to number 71.
However, Blinkova, herself just 19, was too strong for the young American, breaking Gauff's resistance in the first set before crushing her to love in the second and 

Gauff dumped out at Luxembourg after maiden WTA title win

The marathon and race walks at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics could be moved from the Japanese capital to Sapporo where temperatures will be "significantly lower", the International Olympic Committee said on Wednesday.
The IOC is proposing the move because temperatures in Tokyo during the July 24-August 9 Games could reach into the high 30s Celsius.
In Sapporo, more than 800 kilometres (500 miles) further north, they would be five to six degrees cooler during the day.
"Athletes' health and well-being are always at the heart of our concerns," IOC President Thomas Bach said in a statement.
"The new far-reaching proposals to move the marathon and race walking events show how seriously we take such concerns.
"The Olympic Games are the platform where athletes can give 'once-in-a-lifetime' performances, and these measures ensure they have the conditions to give their best."
The plan to change the location of the events has yet to be rubberstamped.
The initiative will need the backing of all of the 

Tokyo Olympics marathon and walks could be moved to Sapporo over heat fears

Female transgender athletes must lower their testosterone levels by half under new regulations introduced by the IAAF, bringing the rules into line with those for hyperandrogenous competitors such as Caster Semenya.
Under the new eligibility rules announced this week, transgender athletes are no longer required to be recognised by law in their new gender but only need to provide a "signed declaration" that they identify as female.
The International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) Council, which met in Doha, approved rules that require the concentration of testosterone in a female transgender athlete to be less than five nanomoles per litre continuously for a period of at least 12 months prior to being declared eligible.
The previous limit was 10 nanomoles. Athletes must maintain their testosterone levels below the five-nanomole limit to keep their eligibility to compete in the female category.
"Under the new regulations a transgender female athlete is no longer required to 

Athletics world body brings in new transgender rules

A child was killed in a strong 6.4-magnitude quake that hit the southern Philippines on Wednesday, a local mayor said, as houses collapsed, power was knocked out and a shopping mall burst into flames.
Residents evacuated homes and buildings across the Mindanao region including a mall that caught fire in the city of General Santos shortly after the quake struck in the evening, officials said.
The child died in a house collapse in the town of Datu Paglas, while four residents of nearby Tulunan town were injured when at least two other houses fell down, Tulunan Mayor Reuel Limbungan told AFP.
"The child was crushed by a collapsed house wall" and pronounced dead in hospital, Limbungan said, adding that he had visited the medical facility and spoken to its director.
Rescue and local officials said there were no immediate reports of deaths elsewhere in Mindanao, and rescue official Anthony Allada told local television that 20 people were treated for injuries in the town of Magsaysay, near ..

One dead as strong 6.4-magnitude quake hits Philippines

Qatar announced plans on Wednesday to scrap controversial rules that require some workers to obtain permits to leave the country, and block certain employees from changing companies without employers' permission.
"Cabinet has adopted new legislation related to a new law for minimum wage and also a new regulation to facilitate labour transfer to a new employee... and a draft law to abolish exit permits," Labour Minister Yousuf Mohamed al-Othman Fakhroo said at an event in Doha.

Qatar to end controversial migrant worker restrictions

President Volodymyr Zelensky said Wednesday that Ukraine "will do nothing" in connection with the impeachment probe against Donald Trump over allegations the US president tried to force Kiev to investigate his political rival Joe Biden.
"As the president of Ukraine, I won't interfere with events in other countries, unlike some others (who) may try (to)," Zelensky told AFP as he met the Ukrainian diaspora in the Latvian capital Riga.
"We, as Ukraine, will do nothing," he said.
The leader of the impeachment investigation said Tuesday that witnesses had provided substantial support for allegations that he illegally tried to force Ukraine to investigate Biden.
While the White House and Trump's personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani refused to turn over subpoenaed documents on the Ukraine affair to Congress, House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff said five witnesses had backed up allegations of misuse of power that could underpin formal impeachment charges.
Witnesses have said Trump's ...

Ukraine 'won't interfere' in Trump impeachment probe: President Zelensky

UK and US authorities investigating a "dark web" child pornography site run from South Korea on Wednesday announced the arrest of 337 suspects in 38 countries.
Britain's National Crime Agency (NCA) said the "Welcome to Video" site contained 250,000 videos that were downloaded a million times by users across the world.
"The website monetised the sexual abuse of children and was one of the first to offer sickening videos for sale using the cryptocurrency bitcoin," the NCA said in a statement.
"The arrests were made in 38 countries including the UK, Ireland, America, South Korea, Germany, Spain, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, the Czech Republic and Canada."
The investigations also involved South Korean National Police and Germany's Federal Criminal Police.
In Washington, the US Department of Justice said separately the site operated "the largest child sexual exploitation market by volume of content" when it was taken down.
"Welcome to Video" operated on the so-called "dark web", 

Online child sex probe leads to 337 arrests: UK police

A Moscow court on Thursday holds a preliminary hearing in the case of a Russian man who is suing US tech giant Apple for allegedly turning him gay.
He is seeking 1 million rubles (USD 15,560) in damages from Apple for sending him a cryptocurrency known as GayCoin instead of the Bitcoin he had ordered.
The bizarre civil suit has been filed in a country where casual homophobia is prevalent and a law banning "propaganda" of gay relationships to minors has stifled public activism.
Representatives of the two sides are set to meet a judge at Moscow's Presnensky district court for a preliminary hearing behind closed doors starting at 9:40 am (0640 GMT).
The plaintiff, named in court papers only by his surname Razumilov, was not planning to attend in order to protect his privacy, his lawyer said.
In his complaint, seen by AFP, he says the GayCoin cryptocurrency arrived with a note saying, "Don't judge until you try."
The complaint says Razumilov downloaded a cryptocurrency app from Apple ...

Court to hear Russian's claim that Apple 'turned him gay'

The EU's powerful anti-trust authority on Wednesday ordered US chipmaker Broadcom to immediately halt uncompetitive sales practices, using an unprecedented weapon against US big tech.
The European Commission took the extremely rare move of ordering interim changes from one of Silicon Valley's pioneer companies while the EU investigation is still under way, citing "irreparable" threats to competition.
The move comes at a delicate time in transatlantic relations and risks raising the hackles of US President Donald Trump, who has accused the EU repeatedly of unfairly targeting US giants.
It also falls two days before USD 7.5 billion worth of European goods will be slapped with US tariffs in retaliation for illegal EU subsidies to Airbus, the planemaker.
EU Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager warned that Broadcom's behaviour "is likely, in the absence of intervention, to create serious and irreversible harm to competition".
"We have strong indications that Broadcom, the world's ...

EU moves against chipmaker Broadcom in latest US tech salvo

Austrian Nobel literature prize winner Peter Handke has slammed criticism against him, saying journalists were more interested in the row about his support for the Serbs than in his works.
The Nobel awarded to him last week sparked a debate in the Balkans and beyond against honouring Handke, an admirer of late Serbian strongman Slobodan Milosevic.
Organisers cancelled a planned press meeting with Handke in his native Carinthia state in Austria on Wednesday after he angrily replied to journalists who came to meet him late Tuesday.
The 76-year-old has lived on the outskirts of Paris for decades.
"No one who comes to me says that he has read any of my works, that he knows what I have written. It's just questions how the world reacts, reactions to reactions," he said, appealing to journalists to "leave him alone in peace".
"I'm a writer. I come from (Russian writer Leo) Tolstoy, I come from Homer, I come from (Spain's Miguel de) Cervantes," he said.
In the 1990s, Handke emerged as a vocal 

Austrian Nobel winner Handke slams criticism

Germany said Wednesday it had called a special meeting of international partners this week to pressure Royal Dutch Shell to remove old rigs containing crude oil in the North Sea.
An environment ministry spokesman said Berlin had convened signatory countries of the Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment of the North-East Atlantic (OSPAR) on Friday in London.
"Germany finds it absolutely unacceptable that these crude oil quantities remain in these structures," said the spokesman, Stephan Gabriel Haufe, citing a "danger for the environment".
"That is why we have made our objections to this known."
He said the participants at the special meeting -- the first of its kind -- would "insist" Shell dismantle the rigs.
The OSPAR convention groups Belgium, Denmark, the European Union, Finland, France, Germany, Iceland, Ireland, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden and Britain along with Luxembourg and Switzerland.
Greenpeace campaigners on Monday boarded Shell's ...

AFP

AFP

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